Literary Terms Game 1

A-C

100

The character who works against the main character and is usually the source of the conflict.

Antagonist

200

From the Greek word for ladder, it is the moment in a story when the conflict or crisis reaches its point of greatest intensity and is usualy the turning point in the story's action.

Climax

300

A word formed from the first letters in a phrase. For example, LOL is word that was formed from the phrase “Laugh Out Loud"

Acronym

400

a self-written life story.

Autobiography

500

A reference to something famous to make a point. For example, if your teacher calls your class a horde of Mongols, students would have no idea if they were being praised or reprimanded unless they know what the Mongol horde was.

Allusion

C-F

100

The part of the story where setting, characters, and background information is established.

Exposition

200

when the audience knows something the characters don’t

Dramatic Irony

300

occurs any time the author uses details to teach us about a person

Characterization

400

a saying, image, or idea which has been used so much that it sounds terribly uncreative. 

Examples: "a diamond in the rough" 

"Cold as ice"

Cliche

500

NAME THE LITERARY TERM: In many medieval literature pieces, a raven, a wolf, eagle or vulture appear and because these creatures scavenge bodies of fallen warriors, they allow the reader to predict a battle is about to begin.

Foreshadowing

G-I

100

A category of literature or film.

Genre

200

Exaggeration or overstatement

Hyperbole

300

The events that follow the climax and help to bring closure or a resolution to the conflict

Falling Action

400

Mental pictures that a reader experiences with a passage of literature.

Imagery

500

a look back in the story

Flashback

I-R

100

A feeling or emotional state that a piece of literature creates in the reader such as comedic, suspenseful, tragic, joyous, etc.

Mood

200

The part of the story where conflict starts and escalates. These parts are necessary to bring about the climax.

Rising Action

300

the conclusion of the story’s plot.

Resolution

400

NAME THE LITERARY TERM: 'Pink is what red looks like when it kicks off its shoes and lets its hair down. …Pink is as laid back as beige, but while beige is dull and bland, pink is laid back with attitude.'

Personification

500

Words or phrases used by a particular group of professionals or other defined group, such as urban teenagers would use these phrases or words not commonly used by rural teenagers.

Jargon

R-Z Category

100

The time and place of a story.

Setting

200

any image or thing that stands for something else

Symbolism

300

NAME THE LITERARY TERM: The way an author conveys his/her attitude about particular characters and subject matter. In poetry, it is called “voice.” It is the feeling the author brings to the piece or the attitude the author takes (towards the subject, audience, or character[s].

Tone

400

NAME THAT LITERARY TERM: He was as brave as a lion.

Simile

500

An arrangement of lines of verse in a pattern that may be subdivisions of a poem.

Stanza